Wissam al-Hassan

Wissam al-Hassan (11 April 1965-19 October 2012) was a Brigadier-General and the head of security for the Lebanese Internal Security Forces.

Biography
Wissam al-Hassan was born on 11 April 1965 Btouratige, Koura District, Lebanon to a family of Sunni Muslims. From 1992 to 1995 he served as commander of Rafik Hariri's personal guard, and he led his guard detachment as a Lieutenant-Colonel from 2001 to 2004 after years of working with him. After his assassination, he worked for Saad Hariri, but in January 2006 he resigned from the Lebanese Internal Security Forces. However, on 19 January he was appointed head of the information branch of the ISF and returned to the government, and he was backed by the 14 March Alliance in opposition to the Lebanese Army's Syria-linked intelligence. During the Syrian Civil War, he mediated between Saad Hariri (who was a Sunni leader) and Shi'ite Hezbollah, having supported both the Hariri family and smuggled weapons to assist the Syrian Opposition. On 19 October 2012 al-Hassan was assassinated in a car bombing in Beirut after returning from abroad, probably a terrorist attack by Hezbollah.